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Lily and G's Relationship
The relationship between Lily Orchard and Their Gardevoir is the central element of the Madhouse Comic, and drives the vast majority of the story arcs. Their relationship has been described as "obscenely close" by Orchard, and has been met with suspicion and speculation both in-universe and out of universe. The Relationship Lily and G have been best friends since they were both very small, and have been closer to each other than is often possible. The two share a dual Psychic Bond, which allows for full communication between the two and for them to share emotions and thoughts with each other. They live with the other's presence constantly in their brain, and as a result of having lived like this for so long they cannot stand to be alone with only their own thoughts. Each considers the other to be precious to them, and Lily gives Gardevoir an equal place in the household. During their teenage years, Gardevoir secretly formed a mating bond with Lily in a desperate attempt to extend Their life. She took advantage of Lily's malleable subconscious while she was sleeping and created the bond then. The mating bond has resulted in numerous psychological changes a well as Gardevoir having a lifespan of 80-100 years. Psychic Bonds Lily and G's Companion Bond The Companion Bond has been active ever since Lily first met G as a Ralts. Initially only to get vague impulses from Their, Lily learned to interpret Ralts' impulses based on context cues. The two had a very rudimentary communication in this time. When Ralts evolved into Kirlia, the bond deepened and Kirlia was able to communicate with images and complex feelings. When Kirlia evolved into Gardevoir, the bond had evolved to it's maximum strength, and Gardevoir was able to communicate with verbal telepathy, though they had to learn how to speak in Telepathic English first. Lily and G's Mating Bond The Mating Bond that Gardevoir formed the night after they evolved has had a drastic affect on the both of them. It is nearly impossible to keep secrets from each other, and the two are often physically drawn to stand close to each other at all times. Gardevoir is also instinctively territorial and has a habit of growling at anything that gets close to Lily. Gardevoir also later revealed that because of the Mating Bond, they are extremely susceptible to Lily's command. This proved to be the reason for their extreme anxiety, as they knew that if Lily were to try to take advantage of them, they would be unable to stop them. Gardevoir eventually learned to throttle the Mating Bond to keep it's downsides in check. The Mating Bond has also caused Gardevoir's instincts to bubble back to the surface, causing them to fall in love with Lily and struggle with the shame for a decade. Gardevoir eventually learned to weaponize this aspect of the bond. By opening it to full power, Gardevoir's instincts would completely dominate them and she would become a bestial specter that Lily can direct through telepathy. According to Lily, doing this requires an extreme amount of trust as Gardevoir is putting themself in an extremely vulnerable position to do this. Suspicion In Universe Despite repeated insistence that their relationship is platonic and familial, Lily and Gardevoir have been suspected of being in a romantic relationship by a large number of people throughout their lives. The two have been investigated by the Pokemon League on multiple occasions, but Gardevoir was capable of hiding their Mating Bond from them just as they hid it from Lily. The two were met with suspicion by almost everyone they interacted with, and all four of Lily's romantic partners throughout her life (Lizzy, Mikaila, Carousel, Ginger) suspected that something was going on between them. Additionally, most of Lily's Pokemon suspect the same to varying degrees. These suspicions were only magnified once word of Gardevoir's feelings got out. Meta The pairing of Lily and Gardevoir (nicknamed LilyVoir) is currently the most popular pairing among the readers, with Gardevoir and Butterfree (GardeFree) and Lily and Mikaila (MikaiLil) being the second and third most popular respectively. It is common for Orchard to be inundated with lengthy arguments from fans about why it should be made canon, an insistence that is not helped by Orchard making circling such a notion the comic's main story. Behind the Scenes The kind of close, platonic relationship between Lily and G has a great deal of real-life historical evidence with people trying to put a specific label onto it for centuries. Examples include *Quasiplatonic *Squish *Romantic Friendship Orchard has gone on record saying she doesn't believe that more terminology beyond "Best Friends" and "Love" are required to describe these kinds of relationship, hence why the terminology does not appear in Madhouse. The relationship between the two lead characters is often used to fuel the deconstruction of Gardevoir's reputation among Pokemon fandom, re-characterizing such portrayals as being the result of grooming and humans taking advantage of the power dynamic between them and their Pokemon.